


Find Family Wherever You Can

by BloodDemonLove



Category: CSI: Miami, CSI: NY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Child Abuse, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family, Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Past Child Abuse, Past Rape/Non-con, Physical Abuse, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-31
Updated: 2020-02-13
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:42:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22486531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BloodDemonLove/pseuds/BloodDemonLove
Summary: Katherine and Tim Speedle are twins that escape from a horrible family situation when they turn 18 and run to Miami in an attempt to hide from that past. They eventually find a new family. Will that family bond survive when their past comes back to haunt them? What about long distance relationships?
Relationships: Don Flack/Danny Messer, Eric Delko/Calleigh Duquesne, Horatio Caine/Mac Taylor
Comments: 4
Kudos: 3





	1. Chapter 1 - Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Kat, Jack, and Mike are my own characters. The rest I don’t own, the plot is mine but I’m not claiming originality. I don’t make any money from this, this was just a plot bunny and AU that won’t leave me alone. Some of the legal jargon and procedures may not be entirely accurate, same with the scientific stuff. I am a chemistry major hoping to be a CSI at some point and I’ve watched CSI: Miami a lot but I may still get some stuff wrong. I also may not get the geography of Miami and New York right. Don’t hate me

Chapter 1

June 26, 1991 – Miami International Airport

Two teenagers stood at the baggage claim in a heated, but hushed, debate. “Tim, I appreciate that you’ve gotten us out of New York, but we don’t know anyone here! We have no money, and no jobs. How are we going to survive?” The girl hissed as she watched for her suitcase to come around on the belt.

“I don’t know, Kat. I just knew that we needed to leave. Do you honestly think that we would’ve been safe there? He could’ve still gotten to us. This was our best bet. It’s far enough away that he can’t track us, but we haven’t gone so far that it’s completely different from what we’re used to.” The boy reached down to grab a blue suitcase as it went by, the luggage tag reading Tim Speedle.

The girl, Kat, sighed, reaching down for her own suitcase, the luggage tag reading Katherine Speedle. “I know, but still. Where are we going to stay? It’s not like we have a vehicle to sleep in, and we don’t have enough money for a hotel room, or even a motel room.”

“We’ll figure something out. Let’s get out of here, I don’t fancy sleeping in the airport.”

Together, the two left the airport, and their past, behind them.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

August 15, 1991 – The Golden Triangle

Lieutenant Horatio Caine, Miami-Dade Crime Lab day shift supervisor, stood in the middle of a cheap motel room, looking at the blood spatter across the bed sheets and wall. He glanced at the body on the floor; a young girl, probably a prostitute, no more than 17 or 18. He was waiting for Dr. Alexx Woods, the M.E., to show up and remove the body before he and his team could finish investigating. “Frank, what do we have so far?” Horatio turned towards the homicide detective standing in the doorway, notepad in hand.

“No I.D. on the body, no clothes in the room. Whoever rented it either didn’t plan on staying or took everything with them. The guy paid with cash; the girl was seen with him but neither gave names.” Detective Frank Tripp rattled off, looking at his notes.

“Who called this in?”

“Another young girl, calls herself Kat but that's probably an alias. She apparently works for the motel and was coming in to clean the room when she found the body.”

Horatio took off his sunglasses and knelt next to the body, “Did she touch anything?”

Frank shoot his head, “No, she came in, saw the body, and called the police. She’s outside with a patrol officer if you want to talk to her. She’s kind of quiet and won’t make eye contact. Seems suspicious to me.”

Rising to his feet, Horatio nodded, “I’ll go talk to her now.”

He walked outside in time to see a young man come up to the tape in a hurry, “Kat! Kat are you okay?” he called out.

Horatio noticed that the young man knew enough about crime scenes to stay on the outside of the tape, but he had it in his hands like all he wanted to do was tear it apart. A girl standing by a patrol officer looked up, “Tim! I’m okay, I promise.”

She moved to go towards the young man, but the patrol cop grabbed her arm. She instantly struggled to get out of his grip, “Let go of me!” She cried out.

Horatio could read the terror on her face and knew he needed to intervene before this went south, “Excuse me, can I help you?” He walked up to the cop, addressing him.

“She’s trying to leave the scene, she’s a witness.” The cop explained, not letting go of the young woman.

“You can let her go; I’ll stay with her.” Horatio assured the young officer, noting the hesitancy.

Eventually, the officer let go and stepped back. Horatio looked at the young woman, who was rubbing at her arm where the officer had been holding her. “My name is Horatio Caine; I work for the crime lab. I understand that you were the one to find the body.”

She looked at him, “Yeah, I found her. I was scheduled to clean that room this morning. I knocked, in case the person was still in there, and when no one answered I unlocked it and went in. She…she was just lying there. I didn’t know what to do so I called the police.”

“That was the right call. You say you unlocked the door?” He questioned.

“Yeah, I have the keys right here.” She pulled a small key ring from her pocket and held them up.

“Okay, I’m going to have you put those right in here. What’s your name? Do you live around here?” Horatio held out an evidence bag for the key, sealing it once the keys were deposited inside.

“My name is Katherine Speedle, but most people call be Kat. I live in one of these motel rooms with my brother, Tim Speedle.” She motioned to the motel behind him.

“Is that your brother?” Horatio looked at the young man that has been watching them intensely the whole time.

“Yeah, he’s protective of me, especially around older guys. No offense, of course.” She hurriedly added.

Horatio smiled, “None taken. Let’s go talk to Tim and see about checking out your motel room.”

He walks Kat over to where the young man stood waiting. As soon as they got within range, the young man pulled Kat into a hug and Horatio could faintly hear whispered words, “I’m sorry I didn’t pick up, I was in the middle of working with a client. When I heard the message…. I thought you had gotten into trouble. You know what'll happen if he finds us!”

“I know, Tim. I’m sorry. I didn’t do anything, I just stumbled upon something and they need to make sure I had nothing to do with it.” Kat pulled back and looked at Horatio, “Horatio, this is my brother, Tim Speedle. Tim, this is Lieutenant Horatio Caine. He works for the crime lab.”

Horatio shook Tim’s hand, “I’m sorry for the unnecessary worry. We just need to cover all of our bases so we can find who did this. Kat tells me that you two live in one of the rooms here. We are going to need to take a look in order to exclude you two as suspects.”

“Of course, right this way.” Tim led the way to motel room number 2, “The owner of the motel lives in room one. He lets us stay here for free, and in exchange Kat keeps the rooms clean and I take care of any mechanical and plumbing problems. I also work at a mechanic shop just down the road to save up some money for an apartment.”

Horatio nodded, looking around while he was listening. The room was clean, two twin beds that were perfectly made, two suitcases situated against a wall on the far side. Walking around, he noticed that the room didn't look like it had been lived in for long enough time for the two to be locals, “How long have you two been living here? And how old are you?”

Kat spoke up, “We’re 18. We moved down here from New York two months ago. Family troubles, you know. We didn’t have much when we moved so we’re slowly building it up.”

Horatio looked up from the dresser he had been searching, “Both of you are 18? You must be twins then.”

Both of them nodded, “Yes, sir. We moved down here two days after our 18th birthday.” Tim elaborated.

Nodding, Horatio was quiet for a bit as he searched their motel room. They weren’t lying, they really didn’t have much of anything. “Hey, H. Whatcha doing in here? Why are you in here alone?” Frank’s voice sounded from behind the twins, who jumped and quickly moved out of the way.

Horatio noticed with curiosity that Tim seemed to instinctively put Kat behind him, “I’m fine, Frank. I was just checking these two out since they seem to be the only constants at this motel. They’re clean though, nothing out of the ordinary.”

Frank nodded and, after one last hard look at the twins, left the room. Horatio walked to the door and paused. Reaching into his suit jacket inner pocket, he pulled out a business card and handed it to Tim, “If you need anything, give me a call. You have to know that you guys aren’t exactly in the nicest parts of the city. It’s very easy to succumb to drugs or gang activity and I don’t want either of you two to end up on the wrong side of the law.”

Speechless, Tim nods and Horatio left. As he was walking away, he heard Kat say to her brother, “Do you think we can trust him? What if he’s like back home?”

He paused long enough to hear Tim’s reply of “I don’t know, sis. I honestly don’t know. I want to believe that not all cops are like the ones back home, that some of them actually care about the victims and not the money, but I’ve yet to see that. We’ll have to be careful. If he finds out, he may send us back.”

Horatio forced himself to walk away at that point, the last sentence echoing in his head. _What were they talking about? Send them back? To where? They don’t sound like illegals; their English was just about perfect. Where they fugitives? No, they would’ve had something incriminating on their person or in their room. They’re also only 18, no way they would’ve developed a rap sheet long enough to warrant sending them back to wherever they’re from. I’ll have to do some research on them when I get back to the lab._


	2. Chapter 2 - History Discovered

August 22, 1991 – Miami-Dade Crime Lab

Due to a sudden influx of cases, it took about a week before Horatio was able to dedicate time to researching the twins from the motel. There was something about them, about the way they seemed to be open books, but at the same time the books were written in a different language. Searching their last name brought up recent articles about a businessman named Jack Speedle up in New York. Dated back in March of this year, the articles talk about how Jack lost custody of his two 17-year-old children and the twins were admitted to the hospital immediately upon being removed from his care. They had to stay in the hospital for close to a month before being released to Child Protective Services, who placed them in foster care for the remaining months before they turned 18. Surprisingly, despite their injuries being serious enough for an extended hospital stay, no charges were filed against Jack Speedle.

“Why in the world weren’t charges filed? They could’ve gotten him for negligence or reckless endangerment with how long they were in the hospital.” Horatio muttered as he continued scanning the articles.

One article mentioned that the twins disappeared shortly after they turned 18. Their foster parents had come home from work to find the twins, and all of their belongings, gone as if they had never been there in the first place. A missing person’s report was never filed, as the twins were 18 and had made it clear that they didn’t want to be found. Jack Speedle, both surprisingly and unsurprisingly, had refused to comment about the disappearing of his children.

September 20, 1991 – Miami-Dade Crime Lab

About a month later, Horatio was working late in the lab. It had been a relatively easy case this time, a hit and run with enough evidence to locate the vehicle and driver. There was still a mountain of paperwork to finish, however. He had just put the finishing touches on his report when his phone rang. Still working on autopilot, not thinking that his phone shouldn’t be ringing this late at night, he answered it, “Caine.”

“Help us, please!” A woman’s voice came through the phone, breathless and panicked.

Horatio sat up straight in his chair, “Who is this?”

“It’s Kat! Please, we need help.” There was some rustling in the background, “Tim! Stay awake, please, stay with me!”

“Kat, what happened? Where are you?” He stood, grabbing his jacket and keys

A sob crackled down the line, “I don’t know what happened. I was out cleaning; Tim was in our room, and I came back and he’s bleeding, and I don’t know what to….”

There was a muffled groan in the background and Horatio grit his teeth, “Kat, listen to me. I’m on my way. I want you to call an ambulance and keep pressure on his wound. It’ll help stop the bleeding. I’ll be there soon, okay? Don’t let anyone in besides me and the paramedics.”

“O-okay…please hurry!” The line disconnected and Horatio hurried to his hummer.

A short time later found Horatio pulling into the parking lot of the motel where the twins were staying, the flashing lights of an ambulance lighting up the normally dim area.

Hopping out of the hummer, Horatio quickly walked to the room where Tim was being taken out on a gurney, Kat desperately clinging to his hand. One paramedic was trying to get her to let go but she was stubborn, not wanting to leave her brother. “Kat.” Horatio said in greeting, “You need to let them do their job and take Tim to the hospital.”

She looked up at him and he was able to read the fear in her expression, “But…”

“Let go. They’ll take good care of him and you can visit him in a bit. Right now, I need you to stay here with me.” He reached out and gently removed her hand from her brother’s, allowing the paramedics to load Tim into the ambulance.

She watched them leave before numbly saying, “This is the first time we’ve been separated like this in a long time. When he goes to work, it’s by choice and we know that he’s coming back.”

Horatio puts a hand on her shoulder, “He’s going to be fine, Kat. Now, I need you to tell me what happened.”

She took a deep breath before turning back to the motel room, “I was out cleaning a room, it was the last one for the day and I was taking my time. Tim had tonight off, so he was here. He said he didn’t have a reason for going out, which is why it surprised me when the door to our room was open when I got back. We each have keys, there’s no reason to leave the door open. I walk in and Tim’s on the floor, bleeding! I didn’t know what to do so I called you. In hindsight, I should have called the ambulance first. If it had been more serious, Tim would’ve died!” She sat down on one of the beds, head in her hands.

Horatio crouched in front of her, “Hey, you were scared and did what you thought was the right move at the time. Tim’s going to be okay. Now, I need you to try and remember, did Tim say anything about having someone over tonight? Or about anything strange that happened while he was at work?”

She thought for a moment, biting her lower lip in concentration, “No, I don’t remember him saying anything. He’s been really busy lately though, it’s possible that something happened, and he never got around to mentioning it.” A couple seconds later, her eyes widened a bit, “Oh! I do remember that a couple days ago, Tim was angry when he came back. I don’t know exactly why but he was muttering something about a botched repair and having to fix it for free. I was half asleep when he came in, so I forgot about it until now.”

Horatio nodded, “Okay, that gives us a place to start. Now, another question. This one is not going to be comfortable, but I want you to be honest with me. Do you think Tim is involved in drugs or gang activity, and that’s why he was attacked tonight?”

Kat looked shocked, mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water for a moment, “No! No, Tim’s not involved in any of that! He wouldn’t do that. He’s decided to apply for the police academy when we’re in a better place, financially, so he wouldn’t do anything to compromise that.”

“Okay. I’m going to look around, see if there are any clues as to who attacked Tim, then we can go visit Tim. Why don’t you wait in my car while I work, I’ll walk you over.” Horatio held out his hand for her to grab.

He walked her to his hummer, grabbing his kit from the back and settling Kat in the front seat, “Wait here, lock the doors and don’t let anyone in without me. I have the keys, so I’ll be able to unlock the door when I’m done.”

Horatio waited for her nod before turning back towards the motel room, determined to find out what happened, why it happened, and who dared to attack them.


	3. Close Call

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know the tags make it seem like this fic is really intense but this is going to be a bit of a slow build up cause I don't want the chapters to be super long and I can only write so much at a time with the way my schedule is right now. Sorry for any delays and the lulls in the story. The major backstory stuff is going to be in the next chapter. After that, the real story should start ramping up.

The motel room was small, so it didn’t take very long for Horatio to process the scene. Blood on the floor, presumably from Tim, signs of a struggle, and a slightly broken door. Looking closer at the door revealed a slight shoe print that Horatio lifted, as well as taking a sample of the dust that left the print. While slim, it is still possible to track the dust to a specific region. When looking under one of the beds, Horatio saw a small piece of paper. Grabbing it, he brought it closer to read what was written on it. He frowned; it was an invitation to join a gang. It had a day, time, and location on it, as well as a warning that if the offer was refused, there would be backlash. Searching the rest of the room didn’t reveal anything out of the ordinary, no guns, drugs or other things that would’ve put Tim and Kat under the scope as suspects. The only thing tying the two of them to anything remotely illegal was a handwritten invitation that was underneath a bed.

Gathering up the evidence, Horatio made his way back out to the car. When he got there, he noticed that Kat had fallen asleep in the front seat, slumped against the door. He hadn’t been gone for long, that much he knew. The poor thing must be exhausted, whether it be from work, worrying about Tim, or both. He opened his door and reached out a hand to shake her awake, but the moment his hand touched her shoulder, she flinched away from him, eyes flying open in a panic. Horatio quickly moved back; hands raised. Having come from a troubled household himself, he recognized a panic response when he saw one and waited for Kat to recognize her surroundings. Luckily, it didn’t take long, “Lieutenant Caine? I’m sorry, I don’t know why…”

He interrupted her, “It’s okay. My home life wasn’t the safest either. I just wanted to wake you up because we can now go to the hospital to see Tim.”

Nodding, Kat righted herself in her seat, taking a deep breath. Horatio got into the drivers’ seat and drove towards the hospital.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It didn’t take long to find Tim’s room, the young man having already been patched up and was resting in one of the recovery rooms. Horatio stopped outside the room and looked at Kat, “I’m going to talk to Tim alone for a bit. There are some questions that I need to ask him, and it’ll be better if I’m the only person in the room. I’ll let you know when you can come in, okay? It won’t take long.”

She looked hesitant, peering past him to the room. Eventually, she nods and heads back to the waiting room.

Horatio turned back to the room and went in. Mindful of Kat’s reaction to being woken up, he was prepared to have to dodge a swinging arm if need be. Fortunately, and unfortunately, the painkillers in Tim’s system seemed to have dulled his reactions. He merely blinked up at Horatio, expression oddly resigned before clearing. “Lieutenant Caine? What…? What happened? Where’s Kat?”

Horatio put a gentle hand on his shoulder when Tim attempted to sit up, “She’s in the waiting room, unharmed. I asked to speak to you alone for a moment. I have some questions about what happened that would be better asked where she can’t hear them.”

“What kind of questions?” Tim asked, watching Horatio with a guarded expression.

Horatio sat in one of the hard, plastic chairs in the room. “First, I need to hear what happened from your perspective. I already have Kat’s version and I’d like to know yours, so I have a clearer picture of what happened.”

Tim was silent for a moment, looking up at the ceiling. Eventually, he started speaking, words slow as if he was having a hard time remembering, “I was…in our room. I had the night off. Kat was…out cleaning a room, the last one for the night, she said. There was a knock at the door, which I remember being strange because it was late at night and I wasn’t expecting anyone. I went to the door…I think I opened it a bit. Next thing I remember is being on the floor, some guy on top of me with a knife.”

Horatio waited a bit for the story to continue, eventually prompting, “Do you remember what he looked like? Did he say anything?”

“No, I don’t think he said anything. He might have, there was a bit of a pause before…” Tim put a hand on his side, where the doctors had stitched up a pretty deep knife wound., “But if he said anything, I didn’t hear him. He was also wearing a mask, not a full-face mask. It was a handkerchief of some sorts, across the bottom of his face.”

“Where there any designs on the mask?” Horatio leaned forward a bit.

“No, it was just black. I think he was blond, but the lighting in the room isn’t the best and I was a bit distracted at the time. I’m sorry that I can’t give you more than that.”

Horatio nodded, “It’s okay, Tim. You’ve given me enough to get started, as well as what I collected from your room. Now, I have a couple of questions and they’re going to be difficult questions to answer. I want you to be honest with me.” He waited until Tim acknowledge the statement before continuing, “Have you had any contact with gang members recently?”

Tim looked shocked, “Gang members? No! Of course not, I wouldn’t put Kat in danger like that! I know what gangs do to people like her.”

“Okay. See the reason I asked is because I found a piece of paper that had a gang invitation written on it, a location, time, and date. The date was a few days ago. There was also a warning that refusal would come with backlash. Do you know anything about that?” Horatio watched Tim intently.

Tim bit his lower lip, thinking. “There was…a couple days ago, a guy came into the shop complaining about a bad repair job. I hadn’t done the repair, but I was working that night and my boss told me to fix it for free. I hate fixing cars for free, the cost of the repair comes out of my paycheck. I did the repair, I’d lose my job otherwise, and the guy was at least nice enough to give me a tip. I remember seeing a piece of paper in the wad of cash, but I never looked at it. If my boss caught me with that much cash, he’d demand a portion for himself, so I hid the money in my back pocket. I guess I forgot about the paper and I don’t know where it went.”

Horatio nodded, “The paper I found may have been from that man. Do you happen to remember what he looked like?”

Tim shook his head, “No, I don’t. But I know the car. It was really high end, not something that usually comes to our shop. The cars I usually deal with are one accident away from being totaled. This car seemed like it came right off the assembly line.” Tim proceeded to describe the car to Horatio, even managing to give a license plate number.

Horatio stood up, “All right. That’s all I need to know. I’m going to go get Kat. Then I have a few more questions but they’re for both of you.”


	4. Secrets Revealed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning! Mentions of rape, implied graphic content! If easily triggered, move along!

A few minutes later found the three of them in Tim’s hospital room, the twins looking slightly nervous. Horatio closed the door to the room before moving over to the side of the bed. Two sets of brown eyes looked at him, a mixture of fear and apprehension swimming in their expressions. Tim spoke up after a moment of silence, “So what kind of questions do you have for us?”

Horatio sighed, trying to come up with a way to broach the subject lightly, “I…was curious about you two. Something about you guys wouldn’t leave me alone and I needed to find out more. So, I did some research.”

He watched as Kat tensed up, looking away from him and Tim closed his eyes, seeming almost resigned as he asked, “What did you find?”

Taking a deep breath, Horatio continued, “I found articles about your dad. That you two were removed from his care just earlier this year and hospitalized for a few months. There were never any charges pressed and you two disappeared shortly after you turned 18. There wasn’t a whole lot, but from what I found, you two are running from something.”

The twins were silent for a while, exchanging looks as Kat held her brother’s hand. Eventually, Kat whispered, “We might as well tell him. He already knows enough to…” She trailed off, eyes flicking up to Horatio’s.

“But what if he’s like them? I don’t want to take that risk. We’ve gotten this far; I don’t want to make it all in vain.” Tim protested, also in a whisper.

“Like who?” Horatio questioned, sitting in a chair by the bed and leaning with his elbows on his knees.

There was some more silent communication between them before Kat spoke up, “Like the police in New York, able to be bought and bribed.”

Horatio blinked, not expecting that answer. “No, I’m not like that. I’m a police officer because I want to help people, not because I have a superiority complex. What happened to you two?”

Tim jumped in, tone bitter, “Our father happened. That man needs to die the most horrible, painful, drawn out death possible for what he did!”

Kat continued, rubbing a calming hand up and down her brother’s arm, “Our father…he’s not the cleanest businessman out there, not by a long shot. His business is actually a front, covering up the real way he makes money.”

“What does he do? Drugs? Arms trafficking?” Horatio hazarded a guess.

The twins look at each other before looking back at Horatio, speaking simultaneously, “Prostitution.”

There was a deafening silence for a few minutes as Horatio put the pieces together, “You two…were being prostituted by your own father?”

Kat flushed, looking away, “Yeah. He didn’t just watch the proceedings, though, he participated as well. And we were the only two prostitutes he had.”

They let that bombshell sink in, watching as Horatio looked both horrified and disgusted by the information. He looked to Tim, “Both of you? He used both of you?”

Tim nodded, “Yeah, both of us. And he would rent us out to his friends. There was a group of them, about a dozen, that were regulars. We would go to school and when we came back, there would be “clients” waiting for us. We couldn’t eat or do our homework until we had serviced all of our clients. Sometimes, depending on dad’s mood, he would purposefully line up more clients than usual, preventing us from eating or sleeping for a while. This was usually on the weekend, to avoid suspicion.”

Horatio felt like he was going to be sick, but he had to know the rest. “How did you get out?”

Kat took up the story then, “We aren’t entirely sure. We think that there may have been an undercover cop at one of these sessions and that’s how the cops found out about it, but we don’t know. They never told us, only that it would be a bad idea to press charges against our father. We had to be hospitalized for so long because we were so malnourished and exhausted that we were both on the brink of death. I don’t remember what had mad dad angry, but we had constant clients for about three days straight. Neither of us could move. I know that I passed out multiple times only to wake up choking, there was blood but I’m not sure who’s it was.”

She was silent for a moment, “The only thing I’m grateful for is that dad insisted I take birth control, so I never got pregnant from this.”

There was more silence as Horatio processed everything that he’d been told. This was not what he was expecting when he asked about their past. Now, however, a lot of the little things about them make sense. Tim’s protectiveness, Kat’s panic at being grabbed and upon being woken up, their determination to get away, and their reluctance to trust the police. “Why did the police say that it would be a bad idea to press charges? With the evidence they had, it would’ve been an open and shut case and your dad would be in prison right now.”

Tim spoke up this time, once again bitter, “One of the men that was a regular client was the prosecuting attorney, another was a judge. The mayor himself may have been in on it, I don’t know. I just know that we were told to never speak of it again and to never press charges. They fell just short of threatening us into silence. If we stayed silent, they would make sure that our father could never touch us again. At that point, we just wanted out. We didn’t care what we had to do in order to get away from him. It wasn’t until a few months later that I did some research and found that what they had done was not only illegal but was morally reprehensible. That’s when we decided to save up enough money to leave the state. We were hoping that he wouldn’t follow us now that we’re 18 and he has no legal claim to us anymore.”

Horatio thought for a moment, needing to get himself together before speaking, “All I can do is apologize for the way that they handled the situation. They should have done everything they could to protect you two instead of protecting themselves. I’m sorry that that happened to you two and I promise to keep this to myself. Tim, your sister told me that you’re going to be applying for the police academy, correct?”

Tim nodded, “Yeah, I want to protect people. I don’t want anyone else to be in the position that we were in.”

Horatio smiled, “You’ll do well there, I think. Now, I’m going to let you two rest. I’m going to find who did this to you. Remember, you can call me at any time, day or night. Good night.”

“Good night, Lieutenant Caine” The twins chorused as he left the room.


End file.
